You are here

US Congress members demand end to Israel’s “cruel” abuses of Palestinian children

An Israeli soldier arrests a Palestinian child during a protest against the Israeli occupation and settlements in the West Bank village of Beit Ummar, 20 November 2012.

Anne PaqActiveStills

In rare defiance of the stifling pro-Israel consensus in the US capital, members of Congress are calling on the Obama administration to push Israel to end its systematic abuses of Palestinian children.

Congresswoman Betty McCollum released a letter on Tuesday co-signed by 18 other members of the House of Representatives urging Secretary of State John Kerry to “prioritize the human rights of Palestinian children living in the Occupied West Bank in the bilateral relationship with the Government of Israel.”

“Indefensible”

A press release from the Minnesota Democrat’s office says the letter “specifically addresses Israel’s ongoing military detention of Palestinian children in which they are arrested, interrogated, held incommunicado, and frequently physically abused.”

“Israel’s military detention of Palestinian children is an indefensible abuse of human rights. I hope this letter results in State Department pressure on the Government of Israel to end this systemic abuse immediately,” McCollum states.

“Palestinian children should be treated exactly the same as Israeli or American children, without the fear that one day soldiers will arrest them, beat them, and lock them away in prison,” the lawmaker adds.

The letter calls these abuses “cruel, inhuman and degrading.” It states that Israel’s military detention system targeting children is an “anomaly in the world,” noting that no other country systematically subjects children to trials by military tribunals.

The letter cites the 2013 report by UN children’s rights agency UNICEF, titled “Children in Israeli Military Detention,” which highlights that “more than 7,000 Palestinian children ages 12 to 17 have been subject to military detention and abuse that violates international human rights standards.”

Underlining that the US gives Israel more than $3 billion annually, the lawmakers’ letter asserts that “respecting and defending the human rights of children, regardless of their ethnicity, race, religion or nationality, is a fundamental American value.”

A copy of the letter is below.

Advocacy works

The courageous – given the intensely anti-Palestinian climate in Washington – initiative came about in part as a result of advocacy on Capitol Hill by children’s rights defenders.

The letter is a positive sign that advocacy – even in a Congress so dominated by Israel lobby groups such as AIPAC – can produce positive results.

Obstruction of justice

But the letter is not likely to be welcomed either at the White House or the State Department.

Both President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Kerry have exerted immense efforts throughout their terms to obstruct any form of accountability for Israeli human rights violations.

The letter was released just a day after the UN Human Rights Council issued its independent report into Israel’s attack on Gaza and its violent crackdown in the West Bank last summer, finding evidence of numerous war crimes during the assault that devastated Gaza and killed more than 2,200 Palestinians.

The Obama administration had implacably opposed the investigation from the start and has vowed to prevent any action based on the report’s findings by the UN Security Council.

It's refreshing and heartening to know some people in our congress have morals, care about children abused by the IDF, and take steps to stop this abomination. Why aren't there more signers I wonder. Where's Bernie and Elizabeth and Ron?